Christopher Tracey

My colleague Scott Schuette and I recently published an updated checklist of the bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) of Erie County, Pennsylvania. We began this project back in 2012, when Scott was asked to help arrange for the annual Crum Workshop (a regional bryophyte foray) to be hosted somewhere in Pennsylvania. We were just in the process of wrapping up the update to the Erie County Natural Heritage Inventory--so we thought that would a great location to host the workshop. Through this five-day gathering of bryologists and additional inventory through heritage survey work, we increased the known number of bryophyte species in the county from 82 to 199, with eight species reported for the first time in Pennsylvania. More details in the abstract:

One hundred ninety-nine species of bryophytes are documented for Erie County, Pennsylvania, representing 34% of the Pennsylvania bryophyte flora. This work is the result of scattered surveys over multiple years and the 2012 Crum Workshop. Aneura maxima, Calypogeia integristipula, C. sphagnicola, Fuscocephaloziopsis loitlesbergeri, F. macrostachya, F. pleniceps, Cephaloziella hyalina, and Campylium protensum are reported new to the state, and an 83 species are reported new for the county. Nearly 40% of the species on this list are considered “rare” and tracked as critically imperiled (S1), imperiled (S2), or vulnerable (S3) by Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, highlighting the critical role of intensive surveys for bryophyte conservation.

For those interested in reading the full article, and have library access, here is the link on BioOne. Also, the Crum Workshop will be hosted in Pennsylvania again this year. It will be held in the State College area and we'll again be visiting several different habitats for bryophyte inventory.